haters gonna hate

When a random man who feels entitled to his opinions tells you that he is scared and hurt by the way you look without makeup, it would be difficult for even the best of us to not feel enraged with the heat of a thousand suns or simply want to pack it all in, weighed down by the fact that we can never win. When you are Zendaya, however, you respond in only the best way possible: You double down.

Yesterday, Twitter user Jae Bass decided to post, “Smh, is it wrong that I just saw Zendaya without makeup and it scared me how different she looks. I’m hurt.” In response, Zendaya posted a #nomakeup selfie with the caption “terrifying honestly…”, showing just how grotesque a human female is without mascara and foundation and eyeliner. As in, she looks incredibly beautiful and lovely and secure AF that she doesn’t need to look any particular way for anyone.

Naturally, fans also came to Zendaya's defense and tweeted similarly beautiful pics of our girl without makeup, but Jae Bass was not done defending his feelings, explaining that he didn't say she looked bad, just different. Which would make sense except for the fact that when you say that you are "hurt" and "scared" by a woman's bare face, you are saying she looks bad and wrong. Naturally, Mr. Bass spent the rest of the day mansplaining himself into oblivion while Zendaya undoubtedly went on with her life being a strong, beautiful badass. But it will happen again, to her and to all of us who have to live with the handicap of being female. And Zendaya does well by all of us by reminding that we should never be ashamed of our faces.